April was a big year for hit Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) League of Legends, with its player base soaring to new heights.
Gaming is more popular than ever, mainly due to the recent global quarantine confining people to their homes. Further proof of this lies in a recent report that showed unprecedented popularity for Riot Games’ world-renowned online title League of Legends (LoL).
A huge milestone for League of Legends
SuperData—a research company specializing in video games—generated a report for last April showing that the LoL player count was higher than it had ever been.
Headcount aside, April also marked the highest revenue grossed by the famed eSports title since 2017. While no specific figures were given, it really isn’t that hard to believe with the Covid-19 pandemic keeping people at home and playing their favorite video games.
https://twitter.com/_SuperData/status/1263847116247531526
Other chart-topping video games in April
League of Legends’ reign over the PC charts comes as no surprise, though the next few games on the list are a little more unexpected.
Multiplayer beat ’em up Dungeon Fighter Online earned second place, with Crossfire—a tactical online first-person shooter—coming in third. Both titles were created by South Korean developers.
On console, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Final Fantasy 7 Remake topped the charts, with both titles being recent, highly-anticipated releases. The leader in soccer simulators FIFA 20 landed the number three spot, followed closely by the widely popular Grand Theft Auto 5.
https://twitter.com/_SuperData/status/1263898519171207168
Wild Rift goes alpha
Developer Riot Games has been pretty busy as of late, recently releasing the League of Legends-based digital card game Runes of Runeterra, and gearing up for the debut of their upcoming team-based competitive shooter Valorant.
They even have a fighting game in the works, featuring characters from their popular MOBA. Speaking of MOBAs, the online phenomenon is also getting a scaled-down version for mobile and consoles called League of Legends: Wild Rift.
Unfortunately for LoL fans, not all the heroes from the original title are making the cut. Wild Rift currently has 41 confirmed champions compared to League of Legends’ massive 148 hero pool.
https://twitter.com/wildriftph/status/1263780169686216706
This is probably due in part to Riot Games rebuilding the LoL game engine for mobile, which rendered some champions incompatible. More champions will likely be released in the future as the mobile MOBA evolves.
League of Legends: Wild Rift set for limited Alpha testing next month in Brazil and the Philippines, and is poised for release sometime this year.
Image courtesy of League of Legends/Garena